Down to earth: getting in touch with the elements to reconnect with nature

If you really want to get away from it all and enjoy simple accommodation and wholesome cooking, try the Tara Rokpa Centre near Groot Marico in the North West. To get there you have to bypass the turn-off to the hamlet of Groot Marico, made famous by writer Herman Charles Bosman, and travel on a rocky dirt road for about 45 minutes. When you get to the end, though, you’re rewarded with a rustic lodge set in lush green bushland ringed by low mountains.

The centre’s low-rise buildings are built on ecological lines in a pristine, protected 500ha estate. The main house is an attractive stone-faced building, while the kitchen block is made of slate waste and earth, and the other structures are made of straw bale and lassak ― metal shutters and rammed earth. The Octagon meeting place was built using sun-dried bricks and has a cow-dung floor.

I was there to attend a workshop on the elements, a fine place to do it as I was surrounded by them. The rain came down one afternoon as if to emphasise the water element, though it put the kibosh on demonstrating the fire element.

There’s a crystal-clear stream running through the estate and a profusion of trees, shrubs, grasses and veld flowers. Even if you’re more comfortable in the city, as I am, you will find plenty in nature. I took the time to watch a fat, fluffy white caterpillar inch its way across my path, and the next day at the same spot, a squirrel raced by. There’s a host of birds, and a walk in the bush can feel quite cacophonous with the crickets, bees and other insects joining the birdcalls. I was amazed that I didn’t miss my phone at all. If you do need to connect, though, there’s a spot on a nearby hill, and the office has Wi-Fi.

The retreat, opened about 25 years ago, was the brainchild of the late Tibetan Buddhist teacher Akong Rinpoche, who emphasised that it should be a nondenominational, multipurpose centre offering opportunities for spiritual, emotional, social and environmental healing. Various speakers and courses are offered throughout the year.

At the beginning of April there was a family Easter camp that included walks, meditation, painting, swimming, mountain-biking, birding, star-gazing and singing around the campfire. From May 1-3 there will be a course called “A Qigong Journey” with Wendy Newstadt, who studied the healing art with grandmaster Nan Lu in New York.

A small group of five attended the elements workshop, which was facilitated by Pippa Cope, a long-term resident of the centre and a former occupational therapist, and Sharon Benatar, a clinical psychologist based in Johannesburg. It was focused on exploring the elements from the Tibetan perspective. In addition to earth, fire, water and air, the Tibetan system acknowledges space as an element. From the small spaces in your body and in nature to the vast space of the universe, space is all-pervasive and essential for life.

We met in the Octagon, whose big windows look out on the bushveld. After placing thin mattresses and cushions on the smooth, shiny cow-dung floor, we were led into a relaxation exercise. The facilitators gave us a talk on the earth element, reminding us how our bodies are lying supported by the ground. We discussed concepts around grounding and how it reflects in our personalities. Too much earth in your nature and you can be heavy and stolid; too little and you can be flighty and unanchored. A well-balanced earth element implies being “down to earth”, dependable and grounded.

We went outside under the gaze of some quietly grazing cows, making our way through the bushland to the stream. Good rains had fallen in the district and the trees and shrubs were decked out in all the greens, with the beauty of small veld flowers — yellow, purple, orangey-red — on display. We sat down and simply watched the water flowing past, an allegory for how all things in life flow on, and perhaps a reminder to let them go. The sound of a brook babbling is a meditation in itself.

Everyone has an element they are most drawn to; mine is fire. As a child I was always being told to leave the fire alone when my dad braaied and scolded when I started any of my own. After I shared this information, I was dubbed “pyromaniac” and instructed to build a fire from kindling we’d gathered. We threw on a few used tissues to help the flames along, and these took, but the twigs and leaves, damp from the generous rains, went out quickly as I humiliatingly made my way through a box of matches. Benatar demonstrated exemplary pyromaniac skills and got the fire blazing so we could watch it roar, burn and finally die, leaving cold ashes. The suggestions about the symbolism flowed freely: fiery temper, burning rage, flaming jealousy. Too much fire in your personality means trouble; too little and you’re flat.

The initial plan of building a huge fire after supper was scuppered by a sudden downpour, so we headed for the open-air dining area, where chef Kerileng Maoto had laid out hot butternut soup, home-made bread and farm butter with salad.

I was looking forward to some reading and an early night. Our group shared the main house, which comfortably accommodates eight people and has a lounge and kitchen area, as well as two bathrooms. The shower was hot and the basic bed in my room firm and comfortable.

The breakfast buffet on Saturday morning was laden with hot malted sorghum porridge, a range of breads, muesli and cereals, and fruit. There was honey, marmalade and delicious smooth peanut butter handmade in Zimbabwe.

It was time to take on the air and space elements. We walked in the bush to observe and feel the breezes that start up and die down spontaneously. We took a walk up the hill to sit on a rock and look up into the sky, just relaxing in nature, taking a breather and, it must be admitted, taking advantage of the signal and checking our phones.

Interspersed in the walks and talks were painting exercises in which we expressed how we saw the elements and what they evoked in us. For the earth element we played with a mound of fine soil from the garden, adding greenery, stones and anything we fancied. I found the fire element easy to depict in paint with soaring blue, red and orange flames. Water was just waves of various blues. Air and space were trickier, but it was good to stretch the imagination.

All the meals were vegetarian and lunches were a feast, with potato bake, pizza, vegetable curry and dhal, salads, fruit salad, apple bake and Cope’s ice cream made with condensed milk. We snacked on hot-cross buns and Maoto’s scrumptious raisin rock cakes at teatime.

On Sunday we packed quickly to leave straight after lunch and avoid the traffic, but the N4 flowed smoothly home. There was a fine drizzle and the sun came and went between the dark clouds. It was as if the elements were reminding us they were there.

Travel Notes:

Tara Rokpa Centre is about 250km northwest of Johannesburg and 230km west of Pretoria. There is a range of accommodation, including: